Video Of The Week: The 2013 Ivy League Rowing Championships

This week's (slightly delayed) video comes to us from the Ivy League Championship Regatta, where the Princeton Tigers won a dominant victory in the varsity eight to claim the automatic bid for the NCAA Championships, coming up later this month in Indianapolis. The Tigers cracked the podium in every event this year, claiming bronze in the second varsity eight behind Brown and Radcliffe, and bronze once again in the varsity four—Lori Dauphiny's squad is always competitive (they were our early season No. 4 overall in February), and may just have juice to be in contention for a national title at Eagle Creek Park.

Heaps more to come tomorrow from championship weekend, on both coasts, taking a look at how our picks and predictions played out on the water. (In the meantime I've been writing a piece on Sprints for ROWING Magazine, as well as a men's lightweight preview for IRAs.)

Want to suggest the next 'Video Of The Week?' Shoot us an email at rowingrelated [at] gmail [dot] com, send us your suggestion via Twitter (twitter.com/rowingrelated), or get in touch via our Facebook or Google+ pages.

-Bryan

College Championship Weekend: RR Picks and Predictions, Coast to Coast

The coming weekend marks one of the most important dates in U.S. collegiate rowing, with a tremendous number of championship titles on the line all over the country. Here are our thoughts, opinions, and educated guesses as to just what will transpire when oars meet water at the Pac-12, Ivy League, Eastern Sprints, Conference USA, Big East, and Big Ten Championships—let's take a look, shall we?

Evening Edition Video Of The Week: 'Train, Guide, Win,' with Marlow Rowing Club

It's getting to be that time of year—that point in the rowing season where all the winter workouts, all the hours in the gym, all the dark morning sessions and extra weights after practice are distant memories, and championship race day is approaching. This video, which was published earlier this year by Marlow Rowing Club, gets at just what it means to put in the hours that no one sees in order to be at your best when it matters most. From the training, to the coaching, to the experience of racing, this one has it all. (And, it certainly doesn't hurt that it's arguably the most cinematic rowing film on the internet.)

There have already been a number of surprises this season at both the junior and collegiate levels, with the Stanford men making their intentions clear in their annual dual with Cal, Marin and Oakland duking it out for supremacy at USRowing Southwest Junior Regionals, and Drexel defending home waters against all comers, including two-time defending champs Michigan, in the men's varsity eight at Dad Vails (and where did Michigan State come from? Hats off to the Spartans, backing up their silver from MACRAs in a big way). ECACs are also in the books, where Michigan bounced back from a tough day in the varsity eight on the Schuylkill, sweeping the men's eight events, while Williams continued their remarkable run of success on the women's side, matching the Wolverines' feat in the varsity and second varsity eights as they build toward the upcoming NCAA Championships later this month. Meanwhile, the Virginia women were busy winning their fourth straight ACC title, sweeping all four events.

The coming weekend promises to be just as exciting, with the Pac-12 Championships out west, as well as further conference championships for the Ivy League, Big Ten, Conference USA, WCC, and Big East titles (among others), and Eastern Sprints set to take over Worcester, Mass. on Sunday.

And did we mention that NSR II begins on Wednesday? Lots to look forward to in May!

-RR

Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta, 2013: RR Picks and Predictions

The Schuylkill Course (Photo: B. Kitch)

The 75th Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta kicks off today, with a ton of teams and a host of races taking over the historic Schuylkill course through Saturday afternoon. There are a number of familiar names that will likely be among the top programs once again this year on both the men's and women's sides, though there are a few upstarts that may just get your attention this weekend as well. And so, without further ado, here are our picks and predictions for the podium (warning—opinions follow):

Weekend Interviews: Craig Amerkhanian and Al Acosta of Stanford

Head coach Craig Amerkhanian addresses his team after the race (Photo: B. Kitch)

For the Stanford men's rowing team, it was a (wait for it) 'red letter day' at Redwood Shores last Saturday, as the varsity eight, stroked by former junior world champion Austin Hack, showed tremendous speed against their rival Cal, nearly setting a new course record on the way to victory. The Stanford crew was just 0.7 seconds off the 5:30.5 set by Washington's IRA champion varsity eight last year, and Cal also posted their fastest time in recent memory at Redwood Shores, breaking 5:33 in a losing effort.

The Stanford lightweight women's varsity crossing 1250m (Photo: B. Kitch)

Earlier in the morning, Al Acosta's Stanford lightweight women's varsity eight took on a heavyweight third varsity eight from Cal, winning convincingly in a time of 6:37.9 to Cal's 6:48.2. The Cardinal have won three straight IRA titles, and are looking to be in contention for yet another podium finish this year. The team also recently returned from a trip to Boston, which was affected by the events surrounding the Boston Marathon—though initially it looked as though racing might be canceled, order was restored in time for the Cardinal to take on  No. 1 Radcliffe. The Black and White crew took the race by roughly six seconds, with Stanford finishing second ahead of Princeton and Boston University. One interesting note: Stanford, currently ranked No. 2, has never entered the IRA as the top seed during their three year streak of championship titles.



-RR